Sim Sin City

I talked to some students about Sin City today, and one of them noted he didn’t like it, but he wasn’t “a fan of comic books.” I really liked it, despite not having seen the original graphic novel. The art of the film stands on its own. If you remember the scene from Schindler’s list with the girl in red within a largely b/w film — the use of color for contrast that provides such amazing affect — I think you get the feeling. Sure, the use of a highlight color here echoes it’s use in the printed comic, but I even without this simulation, I think it ads to the stunning art of the film.

As I noted, I was not familiar with the original form. Film rotation provides a scene-by-scene comparison between several of the scenes from the trailer and the original frames by Frank Miller. The similarity is striking. I would not be surprised if the tone was likewise well-preserved. Certainly, the film stands up as an excellent example of this sort of inter-textual translation, if nothing else. But I also think it stands up well as a stylized comic genre within motion pictures. It seems like it draws down to the essence of what Rodriguez and Tarantino (who are both credited in the film) have done with their earlier films: the cartoonish ultra-violence plays much better in this ultra-stylized form. (via Chutry.)